This invention relates to stretcher undercarriages and is particularly concerned with multi-height adjustable undercarriages which are operable by hand controls such as brake levers, on one or both ends of the undercarriage.
Such height adjustable undercarriages are typically used for loading patients into ambulances where it is necessary to firstly collapse the leading set of undercarriage legs during loading, followed by collapsing the trailing set of legs. The reverse process occurs when the undercarriage is being removed from the ambulance.
An example of a typical height adjustable undercarriage is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,159 dated Apr. 23, 1996, assigned to Ferno Washington, Inc.
A common failing with height adjustable undercarriages is that when a taller than average person is being conveyed into or from an ambulance, the feet of that person tend to extend out past the hand controls on the end of the undercarriage making it difficult for the attendant to move the undercarriage with ease, let alone be able to readily manipulate the height adjusting hand controls. This failing can be overcome when height adjusting hand controls are not required, by using extendable handles which slide within the upper longitudinally extending support framework of the undercarriage, and which extend the effective length of the undercarriage. However when hand controls are present on the end of the undercarriage, their very design and nature means that they must be located in a fixed position to be operable and such extendable handles cannot be used. This problem has been addressed and it has now been found after much trial and experimentation that extendable hand grips with their controls for multi-height adjustable undercarriages, can be produced.